Bird Watching Guide in Southeast Arizona

Jennie and I did our final cuckoo survey of the season in Pesqueira Canyon near Nogales. It was quieter than previous visits, with most of the migrants having passed through and many of the resident species falling silent. We didn’t detect any cuckoos this time.

After our survey, Jennie and I decided to head out to Aquirre Lake at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in the hope of finding three Roseate Spoonbills that had been seen there off and on over the previous few days. We’d both seen this species elsewhere, but not in Arizona.

It was decided that a couple more cuckoo surveys were in order to discover if any were attempting second broods, so Jennie and I were back in Pesqueira Canyon near Nogales. We did detect one YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO calling, but didn’t get to see it and weren’t able to witness any potential breeding behavior.

After conducting a Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey in Pesqueira Canyon near Nogales, Jennie and I headed to Patagonia Lake for some general birding. Despite not arriving until 1:00 pm, we racked up an impressive 53 species along the Birding Trail, with some excellent rarities.

It was the final scheduled Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey of the season on behalf of Tucson Audubon Society and Coronado National Forest, and Jennie and I were confident we could find some.